Halloween display organisers apologise after locals get offended by scenes of 'murdered' babies

22 October 2022, 00:01 | Updated: 22 October 2022, 00:44

The organisers of a Halloween festival have been forced to say sorry and take down a creepy shopfront display of dead dolls, after local people got offended because they thought it was too realistic.

Frightmare, which has been running the festival for twenty years, had to take the display of dolls down because people in Gloucester thought they were showing "murdered" babies.

Local people stuck a note to the organisers on the display window, leading with the questions "Murdered babies? Dead dolls?"

They added that they did not want their children to see the "unsuitable" window display, which also included a 'bloodied' meat cleaver.

The residents said: "Please remove as it is not appropriate for all passing by to see. Thank you.

"Concerned local parents and residents."

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Frightmare later apologised in a note written above the notice: 'Dear concerned locals and residents,

"We would like to clarify that no babies (or dolls) were harmed in the making of this window display.

"However, we apologise for any distress caused and have removed the doll parts as requested.

"Happy Halloween."

The display is made up of dolls lying in pages torn from books, spattered in fake blood. Some of the dolls look like they are burned. The meat cleaver is lying among them.

Georgia Wilson, the Frightmare staff member who created the display, said it was never her intention to offend.

She told the Mail Online: "It was my first time doing the window I was quite excited. We had four and I did two of them.'It was actually the other [display] I was more worried about.

"It was a hellscape and I put a cross with nails in it so I was like 'I wonder if that will be touchy?' 

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"I found some very cool biology books and rusty tools so thought It would be interesting to make it look rustic. We had some left over dolls and I thought to chop off the arms and legs and put it at the bottom so it would cover the bottom bit. 

"It wasn't my intention to offend anyone. Once we got the note I didn't want to apologise as I thought it was worded quite strongly. 

"I mean, murdered babies was never my intention and dead dolls made us giggle as they were never alive to begin with."